I is for Invisible Glass: Inventions by Women A-Z

Katharine Burr Blodgett ( 1898-1979)

We have Dr. Katharine Burr Blodgett to thank for the non reflective glass in our eyeglasses, which is really a special coating. The coating has also been called "invisible glass."

I have never worn glasses without this coating, nor did I know it is sometimes called invisible glass. My husband, who has worn glasses his entire life, insisted I wanted a non reflective coating, when it came time to buy my first set of prescription glasses. I've since learned that without this coating, the glass becomes visible when light is reflected off the surface. Have you ever noticed a glare on someone's glasses? They probably do not have the special coating, or as scientists call it, "invisible glass."

Katharine Burr Blodgett (Katie) was a brilliant woman. Born in Schenectady, New York, and completing high school at the age of fifteen (1913), she went on to earn a bachelor's degree, a master's, and eventually a doctorate in physics, becoming the first woman to earn such a degree from Cambridge University. As a young physicist she decided to devote her life to scientific research, and became the first female scientist hired by General Electric. In the 1920s and 1930s it was rare for a woman to enter the science field at an advanced level.

Among other research pursuits, Katie began an independent study of an oily substance that another scientist had recently discovered. Learning how difficult it was to measure the substance precisely, Katie sought a way to measure transparent objects more accurately. It led to the invention of nonreflecting ("invisible") glass in 1938.

Without going into mind-boggling detail, only a physicist would understand, Katie basically coated the glass with a film of transparent liquid soap, forty-four layers thick (one molecule per layer) to make the glass invisible. The reflection from the soap film  neutralized the reflection from the glass itself.

With more research Katie developed a harder coating that could not be wiped off. This is the coating used today to coat eyeglasses, but there have been many, many other applications. 

Here are some examples:

• automobile windshields
• shop windows
• showcases
• optical equipment
• cameras
• telescopes
• picture frames
• submarine periscopes
• microscopes

Katie received numerous awards for her research, and she is also known for her work on technology during World Wars I and II: 

• poison gas absorbents
• de-icing airplane wings
• improved smokescreens.

Resources:
http://www.famousscientists.org/katharine-burr-blodgett/; http://physics.unl.edu/~fulcrum/resources/women/kblodgett.htm
http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history/themes/microelectronics-and-nanotechnology/langmuir-blodgett.aspx; http://home.frognet.net/~ejcov/blodgett2.html; Blodhttp://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/women.shtmlgett

Copyright 2015 © Sharon Marie Himsl

Celebrate the Small Things: Behind the Lens

What did you celebrate this week?

How about good eyesight? I wear reading glasses with a little correction in the mid and top range of my glasses (we call them progressives), but to be honest, if I were to lose them in the wilderness and get lost, I could probably read a map in the daylight and possibly find my way home (barring also being somewhat directionally impaired). Has anyone actually experienced this?

 But my main point here is I try not to take vision for granted. At my last exam I had the beginning of a cataract in one eye, and my husband has worn glasses most of his life. He has dealt with more eye issues than I likely will ever have.

And here's another thought. What we see behind the lens of an eye is not all we see in life. We also see with our hearts, our minds and our souls, but the vision gets foggy sometimes and out of whack. When I get too busy and attempt to do more than I should to maintain a healthy balance physically, mentally and spiritually, that sometimes happens to me, and I forget the beauty of the moment. I have to slow down . . . and you should too if that happens to you.

Some food for thought by the famous:

"Eyes for Invisibles"

"I have walked with people whose eyes are full

of light but who see nothing in sea or sky,

nothing in city streets, nothing in books. It

were far better to sail forever in the night of

blindness with sense, and feeling, and mind,

than to be content with the mere act of seeing.

The only lightless dark is the night of darkness 

in ignorance an insensibility."   --Helen Keller

 "The man who cannot wonder is but a pair of
spectacles behind which there is no eye"  --Thomas Carlyle

"Auguries of Innocence"

 "To see a World in a grain of sand,

And a Heaven in a wild flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, 

And Eternity in an hour."  --William Blake 
 

Happy Weekend Everyone! 

Thank you Lexa Cain for hosting one of the 

best Blog Hops ever; And co-hosts:

 L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge  

and Katie @ TheCyborgMom